VILLAINS: Heart Of Man

WAX AND WANE

At John's flat Megan, James, Jenner and Mira are having a get together as they sat in the living room having a few drink, sharing jokes and stories. Its been two months since Jenner's miraculous recovery, she barely spent a day before she was discharged after James's contribution and now she was better than new.

The town had being buzzing since then, the press came down hard on the Mayor for the sudden influx in showdowns which also resulted in a slight increase in crime rate as people began to feel that the police and the Marshals were losing their grip on the city. The Mayor looked for a scapegoat and no one seemed more likely to take the fall than Magnus, after all he was present at all the showdowns so he was suspend for a month.

The incident had brought them together creating a bound formed out of Jenner's adversity, within this new growing circle the girls found safety. Mira welcomed the new formed friendship but there was something bothering her, an event that happened behind the shack at Olive creek bay, something Megan did but it was not her actions that bothered her but the fact that she seemed to have forgotten. like Jenner returned and all her problems went away.

Megan stood up from the gathering "Excuse me I need to go to the restroom".

Mira watched as Megan walked out of the living-room and made a turn into a corridor. James reaches the punch line of his joke the other two's attention increased to reach a climax as they all busted into laughter Mira saw it as a good chance for slipping away unnoticed.

Megan unlocked the door and attempted to make her way out of the restroom, Mira had been waiting so as soon as the door opened she pushed hard sending Megan back towards the sink before intruding into the bathroom shutting the door behind her.

"What's the meaning of th...." Megan raises her voice before her lips get wrapped in Mira's palms "Keep your voice down, unless you want the others to hear us talk?"

"what is it Mira? You have been acting funny this past week"

"Oh! really? and you haven't?"

"No. I haven't. I have been great!"

"That's the problem Megan! you should not be okay or fine!!"Mira draws closer to Megan

"Why won't I be fine? Jenner is fine! everything is fine!!" she replies as she squeezes between Mira and the sink to move away.

Mira beats at her own bosom as if to calm herself so she doesn't raise her voice.

"Did you forget? Olive creek? The man you stabbed? the driver in the blue car? who watched the whole thing? did you forget that the Marshal was there? your finger prints are on that dagger"

Mira could hear the other party in the living room begin to ask questions about her wear about, so she lets Megan out before the others come to find them.

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A lonely drunk broad figure stumbles out of a bar into the harsh cold winter, drops on one knee and digs his bare hands into the snow to break his fall.

A few moments pass before he gets himself together but still taking a knee with his face looking up admiring the icy atmosphere, the golden snow reflecting the glow from the yellow streetlights. He takes a palm full of snow and stuffs his face into it, the harsh cold is just a pacifier against the heat burning within him. With a deep loud grunt he sluggishly drags himself up, face back up to the sky and bushy beard filled with snow giving it a grey undertone.

"You know you are going to have to shave that for tomorrow"
A slimmer figure joins from across the street, her all white stands out in the golden serenade as she makes her way through the snow her moderate physique still finds away to bust out her furry coat as her slightly reddish hair sits on her shoulders hiding her dropped down hoodie.

She ends her stride before him "Magnus! You reek!!"
"I know, of cheap beer as you would say" he replies as he dusts the snow off his knee.
"Wasn't complaining about the quality of the beer. I like it, it reminds me of home."

Magnus for the first time lowers his gaze to see Sarah in her usual angelic all white attire, with a few strands of her dark ginger like hair slightly floating a few inches above her shoulders, which usually meant she was getting heated up but this time for pleasurable reasons.

She was always in white but always wore it like a new colour. Maybe its the style, uniqueness and elegance of her dresses or her outline or her charisma or whatever. He could see her trying not to blush with zero success as it became obvious she had noticed him staring like he was lost in a trance causing more sitting strands to float with the others.

"I cant read your mind Magnus" she muttered with her head face down hiding her smile
"Well thank God for that". She busts into a gentle laugh Stretching her hands out to touch his face but he pulls back.

The atmosphere changes as a sense of rejection poisons the air, even her over-jubilant hair now sat still. "I am sorry I didn't mean it that way, I am hot enough as it is, there won't be need to warm me up" Magnus explains has he puts his hands on her shoulder. She understands as a smile returns to her face leaning forward "well get rid of this or I would have to burn it off myself " she whispered into his ears with the tip of her fingers brushing through his beards leaving a bright orange glow at each end with a gentle smoke sizzling from the glow. She gave him a perk and walked back to the other side of the street where an SUV was parked, she turned back to look at him one last time before she got in the back sit and the SUV pulled away.

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Its been two months since Charles had seen Jinnie, the little girl and her family had gone on a long vacation, also it had been two months since he walked on his one two feet. He lays still on the bed as the cold winter breeze sipped into the room from a slight opening in the window, just the way he likes it but the nurses would always come in to shut it.

Charles recalls the last conversation he had with Jinnie's adoptive father, the absurdity of his statements, things he said, the indecisive dilemma he and his wife faced.

Her father was worried she had gotten too close to Charles, an old man who wasn't her grand father and they had both created such a tight bond her parents were not sure what would happen when he passed on, so they thought it would be best to sever it now but there was the other part. Jinnie had never acknowledged her adoptive mother as her mother until she began to spend time with Charles, the more time she spent with him the more open she became with her mother. The mother wasn't sure on the best way to approach the situation so she sent her husband to have a chat with Charles.

All Charles could think of was how the parents had written him off. It appears the long vacation was a ruse to create distance between them while keeping her preoccupied with attractions like Disney land and  other theme parks but that charade didn't hold for long. A few weeks in Jinnie began to ask to call Charles so she could share her adventures with him. The parents refused but their daughter was persistent, alas nobody likes a nagging person on a vacation so they let her have away.

During their last conversation it was clear Jinnie's father cut the vacation short which only made sense since its purpose was lost. So Charles anticipated her return. The little girl with so much mystery surrounding her and the most recent wonder was the fact that the blue chest robins that always flew around the care home had seized visiting just around the same time she did. One could say it was the winter but Charles had other ideas.